Four games in, the NHL war of attrition has already struck the Seattle Kraken.
Defenseman Ryan Lindgren was placed on injured reserve Thursday, and isn’t expected back for 4-6 weeks. The blueliner was crushed into the side boards by Vegas’ Marc Gatcomb (penalized for boarding) in the first minute of Tuesday’s 6-2 loss to the Golden Knights.
Like Lindgren, forward Jacob Melanson is on I.R. and considered week-to-week, after sustaining an upper body injury in the season-opener at Calgary Oct. 1.
Injury Creates Opportunity For Spare Kraken Defenders
In the first four games, Seattle has rotated its sixth defensive slot among Cale Fleury (two games), Josh Mahura and Ville Ottavainen (one game each). With the Lindgren injury, two of those three are expected in the lineup Friday when the Kraken play the Red Wings in Detroit.
(The Kraken wont receive any sympathy from the Wings on the injury front. According to AP, six Detroit players are either questionable or definitely out of their lineup. “Carter Bear: out, Mason Appleton: out, J.T. Compher: day to day, Marco Kasper: out, Chase Stillman: out, Jacob Bernard-Docker: out.”)
Ottavainen, a 2021 4th round draft pick, had played just one NHL game with Seattle prior to this season. The 24-year-old native of Oulu, Finland has been a mainstay at AHL Coachella Valley, playing 191 regular season games for the Firebirds the past three seasons, and 36 more in the playoffs.
“We liked Ville’s training camp,” Kraken coach Lane Lambert said recently. “He’s a big body guy that uses his size and reach well. He defends well, he gets in the way. From this year compared to last year, his foot speed has improved, his stick position has improved. I think they’ve done a good job with him in Coachella Valley. He’s put himself in a position here to get a longer look.”
Kraken Coach Lauds ‘Good Soldiers’
Mahura and Fleury spent last season in Seattle, but more often than not were healthy scratches. Each appeared in 23 games. Lambert acknowledged the frustration sitting out can cause a pro athlete.
“Last year was tough for them. We kept eight D and didn’t have a lot of injuries, so there wasn’t a lot of playing time for them. Fleury and Mahura spent months extra skating last year, and played well when they played. They were good soldiers. They kept in shape every day. They were great teammates.
“They earned an opportunity to fight for that spot (replacing Jamie Oleksiak, who departed for Vancouver in free agency). Both guys have played hard, and we’ll see where they fit in.”
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